Chittagong: Kumar Sangakkara reached his maiden test triple-century on Wednesday to lead Sri Lanka to a mammoth first innings score of 587 on the second day of the second test against Bangladesh.
Sangakkara reached the landmark in emphatic fashion by hitting consecutive sixes over the long-off and mid-wicket fences off Shakib Al Hasan, and was the last batsman out, for 319.
He became the third Sri Lanka player to score a triple-century, joining Mahela Jayawardene and Sanath Jayasuriya, and the 27th player overall. He also passed 11,000 test runs.
Sangakkara shared a century stand with Ajantha Mendis, who scored 47 before falling victim to a quicker Shakib delivery. Shakib was the pick of the bowlers with 5-148, his 11th five-wicket haul, while Nasir Hossain took 2-16.
When Mendis went, Sangakkara was on 253 and seemingly stranded, but he kept his composure and farmed the strike with No. 10 and 11 batsmen Suranga Lakmal and Nuwan Pradeep at the non-striker's end. He rejected any singles, and relied on a series of boundaries to bring up the milestone.
